Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Although Dingle is crowded in summer, it still feels like the fish and the farm really
matter. A dozen fishing boats sail from here, tractors leave tracks down the main drag, and
a faint whiff of peat fills the nighttime streets.
For over 30 years, my Irish dreams have been set here on this sparse but lush peninsula,
where locals are fond of saying, “The next parish over is Boston.” There's a feeling of
closeness to the land in Dingle. When I asked a local if he was born here, he thought for a
second and said, “No, it was about six miles down the road.” When I told him where I was
from, a faraway smile filled his eyes, and he looked out to sea and sighed, “Ah, the shores
of Americay.” I asked his friend if he'd lived here all his life. He said, “Not yet.”
Dingle feels so traditionally Irish because it's part of the Gaeltacht, a region where the
government subsidizes the survival of the Irish language and culture. While English is al-
ways there, the signs, chitchat, and songs come in Gaelic. Children carry hurling sticks to
class, and even the local preschool brags “ALL Gaelic.”
